Burner system for weed burners



n 1951 c. o. HENNEMAN ETAL 2,558,359

BURNER SYSTEM FOR WEED BURNERS Filed April 10, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 1Ll'gu id Fuel Tank INVENTORS OWEN L. GARRETSON CLgl RENCE O. HENNEMANESWL Q Aff'a s.

June 26, 1951 c. o. HENNEMAN ETAL 2,558,359

BURNER SYSTEM FOR WEED BURNERS FiJed April 10, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Ticrz.

INVENTORS OWEN L. GARRETSON CLIgIBENCE O. HENNEQMAN AH '55 s.

Patented June 26, 1951 12,558,359 BURNER SYSTEM FOR WEED BURNERSClarence 0. Henneman, Bartlesville, Okla and Owen ,Garretson, Roswell, NMex assignors to Phillips Petroleum Company, a corporation of DelawareApplication April 10, 1948, Serial No. 20,326

is Claims. (or. 158-53) This invention relates to improvements in fuelfeeding and control systems for multit-burner weed burners.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide in such a system .amaster burner for yaporizing the liquefied petroleum gas fuel by meansof which the burners are operated so that the fuel is supplied to all ofthe burners including the master burner as a vapor.

Another object of this invention is to provide a novel form of fuelsupply system to a plurality of burners including such master burnerswhereby the operation of the apparatus is simplified and rendered moredependable.

Another object of this invention is to provide a multi-burner liquefiedfuel system having a minimum of fuel feed lines in the system.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a system of thistype the major portion of which may be installed on a tractor trailer.

Other and more detailed objects .of the invention will be apparent fromthe following description of the embodiment thereof illustratedin theattached drawings.

This invention resides substantially in the combination, construction,arrangement and relative location of parts all as will be describedhereinafter.

In the accompanying drawings? Figure 1 is a diagrammatic and schematicillustration of asystem embodying the features of this invention; and

Figure 2 is a longitudinal central cross sectional view through themaster burner.

An understanding of the operation of the complete system is facilit ted:by an understanding of the construction of the master burner so thatthe construction in Figure 2 will be described in detail.

The master burner comprises a two part housing consisting of the bodyportion l and the nozzle portion 2 held tog ther at their flanged endsby means of nuts and bolts 3. The body portion 1 includes an extension:4 having a passage 6 therethrough terminating in a chamber in thespherical end :5. The torch portion 22 of the housing has an annularchamber 9 communieating with the passage 6, The spherical end has athreaded port I to which the pipe 34 is connected and an axialthreadedport to which the pipe 33 is connected. This port also isprovided with an internally projecting tube 8 which extends through thepassage 6 and into the annular chamber 9 and terminates at an open endIt. The inner :wall of the annu ar cha er 9 .2 defines the torch passagell into which the fuel is discharged through the nozzle orifice 15 of ademountable nozzle ll l. This nozzle is mounted on a tubular reentrantelement or bushing 13 of the housing part I. This bushing together withthe nozzle 14 forms a chamber into which the threaded port l6 opens andto which a pipe 31 is connected. The burner nozzle orifice is at I2 andat [2 is indicated the position of the ignitor, commonly a spark plug.

A complete four-burner system employing the master burner of Figure 2 isillustrated in Figure 1. The master burner is indicated by the referencecharacter M. The burners are mounted on skids of the type commonly usedfor this purpose and illustrated in the form of standards having theplates 25 shaped to slide along the ground. Adjustably mounted on thestandard 24 are a series of brackets 26 provided with clamps to engagethe ball shaped extensions of the burners which are similar for all theburners and are similar in this respect to that shown in Figure 2. Itwill be recognized that there results a ball and socket supportwhichpermits proper angular adjustment of the various burners and theclamping in adjusted position. The details of construction of thesupporting mechanism form no part of this invention and therefore havenot been shown in detail.

Likewise, the burners 2|, 22 and 23 maybe of any suitable constructionand have not therefore been further illustrated although it will berecognized that the construction could be like that of Figure 2 with theelimination of the vaporizing adjunct which characterizes the masterburner M of Figure 2. .It will also be recognized that the apparatus canbe constructed to include more than four burners when more than two rowsof planting are to be freed of weeds simultaneously.

The fuel tank for the liquefied petroleumgas .or equivalent fuel isillustrated at 21 This tank is provided with a gas take-off line 28 atthe top and a liquid take-oil line Al in the form of a dip tube ascommonly used in this art. The lines 28 and M are provided with themanual valves 29 and 42, respectively, and are interconnected as shown.At the interconnection is a branch to the pressure regulator 30. Theoutlet port of the pressure regulator is connected by pipe 3| to atwo-way valve 32. One of the branch lines 33 controlled by this valve isconnected to the master burner as illustrated in Figure 2.

u Line -34 connected to the other branch line 33' controlled by thevalve 32 and to one side of a manual valve 35. The other side of thisvalve is connected to the fuel manifold 36. This manifold is providedwith the branch 31 which connects to the master burner as illustrated inFigure 2, and branches 38, 39, and 40, which connect to the remainingburners 23, 22 and 2|, respectively. A bypass line 43 having a checkvalve 44 therein interconnects line 3| with the point of connectionbetween lines 28 and 4| for a purpose to be described later. Pipes 34and 31 are interconnected by a bypass 34' having a. needle valve 45 fora function to be described later. A-valve 31 is included in the line3!which may be a manual valve or a back-flow check valve like the valve44.

In the operation of this system, it is started up 7 by opening valve 29,valve 42 being closed. Fuel gas flows from the vapor space in the tank21 through line 28', valve 29, pressure regulator 30 where its pressureis reduced to the proper value,

. line 3|, and to valve 32. Valve 32 is positioned to interconnect line3| with line 34. Upon opening valve 35 this gas is delivered to themanifold 36- ,by means of the branches 31, 38, 39 and 46, to 1 themasterburner M and thestandard burners .23, 22, and 2|, respectively.If'valve 31 is a Q manual valve it will be open at this time or if it isa check valve it is placed in line 31- to permit gas to flow to'theburner M. Thus. all of the ,burners can be put in operation at the timeof starting up; As an added feature; when it is desired to cut off allburners except the master burner, it can be provided with a passage'P inf the body portion interconnecting the passage 6 directly With thenozzle M in which case; with the valve 32 in the position shown andvalves 35, 45 and 31' (if a manual valve) closed. vapor can be supplieddirectly to the masterburner only from the vapor space of the tank 21through the same circuit. Valve 31 prevents vapor from -reaching themanifold 36 through line 31.

In either event, as soon as the master burner I has warmed up, valve 29is closed, valve 42 is opened and valve 32 is positioned to interconnectpipe 3| with pipe 33 (as shown) whereupon liquid will be withdrawn tothe inlet of the pressure regulator through the dip tube 4| and valve42. Liquid fuel is then delivered from the regulator to the. masterburner through the line 3|, valve 32 and line 33 to tube 8 within themaster burner from. which it is discharged into the space 9 at p theopen end In of this tube. The liquid in the H chamber 9 is thenvaporized and returned through passage 6 to line 34, valve 35 andmanifold 36 from which it flows to all of the burners including i'themaster burner (valve 31' being open if a manual valve). Thus, forconditions of operation where the ambient temperature is not suffi mciently high to cause the conversion of enough of .,the liquid in tank21 to a vapor to operate the Q burners through the connection 28, it ispossible I to supply the required amount of vapor by using l the masterburner as a vaporizer.

The hand operated valve 35 is a standard quick ope ning valve which doesnot throttle but is "either fully open or fully closed. Therefore, J-whe nthe burners are shut down, but it is desired not to kill the flame,valve 35 may either have a leak passage therein to supply sufiicient gasto keep the burners lit or a bypass connection may be: provided betweenthe lines 34 and 36 or 31 1 through valve 45 to supply enough gas to themanifold 36 to keep the burners lit. This valve 45 may be an adjustableneedle valve for adjusting to attain such operation.

With this arrangement a quick snap on and off action is provided withoutextinguishing the burners unless the needle valve 45 is closed. Thetwo-way valve 32 permits the operator to shunt vapor directly from thevapor space of the tank 21 to the manifold 36 at those times when heWishes to operate on vapor alone which particularly may be the conditionwhen the ambient temperature is high enough.

Should the bypass 45 not be employed and should the valve 35 be closedafter the system has been in operation, the liquid in line 33 wouldcontinue to vaporize in the master burner and build up excessivepressures in the line 3|. To relieve this condition, the bypass line 43with its back flow check valve 44 is provided to shunt the gas andliquid back into the tank 27 around the pressure regulator 30 throughthe bypass line 43 and thereby relieve the pressure in this part of tthe system.

It will be recognized that the use of the bypass I P (Figure 2) preventsthe snap on and off action of the master burner. It is thereforeadvantageous to pipe all vaporized fuel from the master burner back tothe manifold 36 through line 34 so that snap on and 01f action for allburners ing the vapor from the master burner to the manifold the use ofliquid feed lines is limited, reducing the hazard from failure ofequipment.

The use of the valve 35 to cutoff the flow'of vapor results infractional control of the burner flame whereas with liquid feed theburners would continue to operate for some time after shut-off. Thisflexibility of the vapor system is highly advantageous as it"will permitcut-off of burners when burning the weeds about small plants such asmight be met in some part of a row of plants where the plants have notgrown to as large a size as in other parts of the row. This system alsopermits the reduction of gas consumption by cutting off the gas supplyat the time the tractor is turning around at the end of the field.

In other words, by operating on vapor, a snap action results whichpermits instantly cutting the burners down to the point where they juststay lit during periods when they are not being used. It willbeunderstood that Where a larger number of burners are used and sufiicientvapor is not 'supplied by one master burner morethan one master burnermay be employed. 7

From the above description it will be apparent to those skilled in theart that the subject matter of this invention is capable of somevariation and we do not therefore desire to be limited to the singleembodiment'herein illustrated but rather to the claims granted us.

What is claimed is: v

1. In a system of the type described, the combination comprising a fuelvapor manifold, a plurality of fuel vapor burners connected to saidmanifold, at least one of said burners havinga liquid fuel vaporizer inheat exchange relation therewith, a source of liquid and vaporizedliquid fuel, means for selectively delivering liquid 01 vapor fuel fromsaid source to said burner, means for delivering vapor fuel from saidvaporizing means to said manifold, said last means including an on andoff valve for controlling the supply of vapor fuel to the manifold andmeans for supplying a limited quantity of fuel to said manifold whensaid on and off valve is closed.

2. In the combination of claim 1, said first mentioned means comprisinga valve and pipe connections whereby vapor may be delivered from saidfuel source to said burners for one position of that valve.

3. In the combination of claim 1, said first mentioned means comprisinga valve and pipe connections whereby vapor may be delivered from saidfuel source to said burners for one position of that valve and liquidcan be delivered to said vaporizing means for another position of thatvalve.

4. A system of the type described comprising a fuel source of liquefiedgas, a fuel supply line, means for delivering liquid or gas to said linefrom said source, a gas manifold line, a plurality of burnersindividually connected to said manifold line, one of said burners havinga vaporizing unit in heat exchange relation therewith, means including avalve for delivering gas to said manifold or liquid to said vaporizerfrom said source, and a pipe connection from said vaporizer to saidmanifold line.

5. In the combination of claim 4, means for controlling the supply ofgas to the manifold from either said source or said vaporizing means.

6. In the combination of claim 4, means for controlling the supply ofgas to the manifold from either said source or said vaporizing means,and a bypass connection around said last means for supplying a limitedquantity of gas to said manifold line from said source.

7. In the combination of claim 4, a pressure regulating valve in saidfuel supply line.

8. In the combination of claim 4, a pressure regulating valve in saidfuel supply line, and means for returning fuel around said pressureregulator from said fuel supply line to said fuel source when pressurein said fuel supply line exceeds a predetermined value.

CLARENCE O. HENNEMAN. OWEN L. GARRETSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 60,480 Collins et al Dec. 18,1865 785,902 Marks Mar. 28, 1905 968,233 Best Aug. 23, 1910 1,236,699Geer Aug. 14, 1917 1,308,452 Smock July 1, 1919 1,323,922 Smith Dec. 2,1919 2,084,297 Martin June 15, 1937 2,151,060 Tschudy et al Mar. 21,1939 2,368,179 Turpin Jan. 30, 1945 2,475,817 Buttner et a1 July 12,1949 2,485,391 Lasseigne et a1 Oct. 18, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS NumberCountry Date 40,962 Austria Feb. 10, 1910 233,167 Great Britain May 7,1925 260,797 Germany June 10, 1913

